


Beast and the Beauty (a twisted fairy tale)

by kalypsobean



Category: Twisted Princess (Disney Fanart)
Genre: F/M, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 01:32:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypsobean/pseuds/kalypsobean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which everything is the same yet different</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beast and the Beauty (a twisted fairy tale)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Opalsong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalsong/gifts).



_Through the mist, through the woods,_  
 _through the darkness and the shadows._  
 _It's a nightmare but it one exciting ride._  
 _Say a prayer, then we're there,_  
 _at the drawbridge of a castle,_  
 _and there's something truly terrible inside._  
 _\-- "Kill the Beast"_

 

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a prince. His parents had died, long ago, and he lived alone in the castle, with only his servants for company, for the lands his family ruled over had fallen to ruin and poverty.

On the prince's sixteenth birthday, he demanded that the servants prepare a feast the likes of which they had not done for many years. But when he was about to sit down to his meal, the butler came and told him that an old woman was at the door, and would not leave until she had spoken with the prince. He was annoyed at the interruption, and told the woman to leave him be. The old woman protested, and he struck her and called her names. A brilliant light shone from her chest and her appearance became that of an enchanting princess, for she was a great fairy from the North. The prince fell to his knees and apologised, but the woman would have none of it. He had shown his true temperament, she said, and was not worthy of the gifts she had come to bestow on him. Instead, she gave him a rose; if he had not understood humility and kindness by his twenty-first birthday, the rose would wilt, and he would die. 

She disappeared, and he turned to ask the butler what she meant, but he had turned into a clock; all of his servants had been transfigured, for he had to learn this alone. And when he looked down at his hand, it was covered in fur. He howled into the night, but the only reply was an echo of his own pain.

 

Time passed, and the prince fell to despair. He fed off the animals in the surrounding forest, while the feast prepared for his birthday lay untouched in the dining hall. He did not allow himself the pleasures of his castle, and only entered the west wing, where he stared at the rose, sometimes all night. But he did not change back, and he did not learn.

 

Soon, word spread throughout the land that a beast had been sighted in the forest. Nobody dared enter, even to seek the healing flowers which only grew in the shadowy moss beneath the darkest, oldest trees. It fell to a young man from a small village, a man who did not know fear and to whom the village elders had promised the most beautiful maiden in town if he could but secure a basket of these flowers. He set out into the forest with his bow and his sword, with only his friend for support. The prince saw them, and chased them away, for the forest dwelling herds had moved on, and he did not want them to take his food.

The man ran back to his village, his friend behind him, and shouted of the beast - he was ten feet tall, with teeth as sharp as knives and eyes that glowed red in the night. Every able man from the village and the surrounding farms set out, and the prince saw their torches from the castle.

He did not wait for them to come to him; he was tired of this wraithlike existence, and so he fashioned a noose from the curtain ties and slung it around his neck. He tied the other end to the balcony rail and was prepared to jump when he heard a voice behind him. 

"Wait," she said, for it was the maiden from the village, who believed in the kindness hidden away in every creature, even those she had not met. "If you show them you are kind, they will let you be." The prince was abashed, for he did not deserve her warning, and he had not met another human so kind since he was small. 

But instead of trusting her, he grew incensed at her curiosity, and locked her away in the library, where she could not see the rose that had begun to wilt, or see him too closely and find that he was not worthy of her help.

 

The village men stormed the castle soon after, and the prince met them on his grand staircase. He knew this would make him more menacing to them, for it was a stormy night, and the lightning shone brilliantly through the windows, casting his shadow long on the floor. The young man advanced with his sword held high, cursing the prince and threatening harm so grievous and drawn out that the prince became terrified. He had never been deliberately cruel, and did not understand it, for he had never harmed this man and only scared him out of a desire to be left alone.

The prince ran to the library and opened the door. He saw the maiden for what she was; a scared young woman, her best dress in tatters and tears marking her face.

"I will let you help me," he said, though his voice was hoarse from not being used, "but you must trust that I will not harm you, no matter what happens." He took her in his arms and turned, the young man already on the landing behind him.

"If you take one more step, I will kill her," the prince said, but the man did not slow down or drop his sword.

"She is mine," the man said, "and I will go through her to get to you."

The prince pulled the maiden to him and turned her away from the man's sword; he felt it enter his back and felt her tears on the fur of his chest. He held her for a moment, and then with the last of his strength he pushed her back into the library. Without her there, he used the space around him to build his momentum, and he pushed the man away from him as he turned from the door. The man fell back, and over the banister. The prince fell to his knees, weakened and filled with grief for what he had done. 

 

But then, as had happened just over five years before, a brilliant light filled the castle, and suddenly the prince was a hale young man with his servants around him. They fought off the villagers, many of whom had already run, and then he hugged them as though they were his friends. Then, he opened the library, and the maiden ran to him, recognising his heart even though his appearance had changed. He offered her his arm, and guided her to the dining room, where the feast lay ready for them, spared from time by the fairy's magic and left to him as a sign that he had truly earned his freedom.

The maiden pleaded with him to let her stay, for she did not belong in that village and was afraid to return in case she should be married against her wishes. The prince rejected her offer to serve him in return, and only asked that she be willing to help him restore prosperity to the kingdom in whatever way she saw fit. The maiden agreed, and brought her father, a famous inventor, to the castle. Between them, they managed to bring trade into the kingdom and brought happiness to many of its people. The prince was so pleased that he asked the maiden to marry him, so that the whole kingdom would see them as equals. She agreed, and they all lived happily ever after.


End file.
